The Glass Child
by Nikki Flinn
Summary: This is the story of my sixth year, keep that in mind. This is the story of what happens when you decide to care about a glass child. Told from Ginny's POV. AU as of Book 7 chapter ten. Mature for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Glass Child

Chapter One

When I was a naive young first year, I stumbled across a diary that just happened to contain a fragment of the soul of Tom Riddle. When we first met, I thought he was the bee's knees. He claimed to be a sixth year and since I thought he was the embodiment of a cool guy, the kind of guy I wanted to date, I figured that my sixth year would absolutely rock.

That was until Dumbledore died. Until Snape took over. Until the man of my dreams dumped me because he didn't think I could handle myself. Until I figured out that maybe I didn't want my dream man after all.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. My story starts with my sixth year and the new girl.

I sat on the train, thumbing through _Pride and Prejudice_ for perhaps the eighth time since I bought it at a used book sale back in June. I was to the part where Elizabeth gets verbally bitchslapped by Darcy's aunt and Elizabeth figures out she loves Darcy. My mind kept running back to my ex. Harry, in case you're wondering.

I knew I shouldn't have kissed him. It was stupid and it only confirmed that we weren't meant to be together, which I wasn't really ready to face. But I had kissed him, hoping somehow he would feel something or spark something in me. I was beginning to think maybe it had just been a fling.

I looked up from my Jane Austen as a blonde head poked in. I smiled at Luna.

"Hey, Luna, wanna join me?"

Luna smiled at me and slipped into the compartment. "Hi, Ginny!" She exhaled dreamily.

I don't really know what made me become friends with Luna in the first place. Maybe it was the way I could tell her anything and she would never judge me.

Who knew. All I knew was I could be myself around her.

"How are Bill and Fleur?" Luna asked, sitting down across from me and pulling out a copy of the Quibbler.

"Good. I'm sure they'll be expecting soon."

"Good that they aren't letting the war stop them. That's important in a family."

"How's Dean?" I asked. I had seen my friend with the Gryffindor at the wedding. He was smitten, though he didn't know it himself yet.

Luna smiled. "He's great. He promised if time allows he'll help me look for Kneevels soon."

I smiled back, glad to see my friend so happy.

"This seat taken?"

I looked up as Neville entered the cabin. I smiled at him. "Not at all, Nev. What's up?"

He took a seat, sighing with exaggerated aplomb. I couldn't help a smile. I liked Nev. He was a real sweety. I thought about maybe dating him this year. I decided against it. I liked Nev too much for that kind of stuff.

So I decided to be single this year. That was okay. Harry was off being a hero like the stupid idiot he was. I could be single. I could be pretty happy.

Okay, so I was lying to myself and I knew it. I wanted to believe it, but that didn't make it any less of a lie. I knew I was going to be single because, after that thing with Harry, no one was going to date me. Not to mention the war that was going on around us at all times. No, I would be single because I had no other choice. And I would accept it, and maybe be okay with it.

I thought all of that would be true. I wanted all of that to be true.

But the moment I saw him again, I knew none of it ever would be.

* * *

He's perfect. Arrogant, concieted, narcisstic, irritating and perfect. In case you can't tell, his name is Draco Malfoy.

Okay, every girl in school will deny this but it's true. Draco Malfoy is a freakin' sex god. He's devinely gorgeous and those who have seen him shirtless will tell you he is totally worth it.

I didn't start off my sixth year knowing what Draco Malfoy looked like without a shirt. That came later.

This is the story of my sixth year, keep that in mind. This is the story of what happens when you decide to care about a glass child.

Sixth year started with Ehnola Gray.

Nev, Luna and I laughed on our way into the Great Hall. I knew there would be precious little to laugh about as the year progressed, so we took as much as we could.

My laughter stopped as I saw the teacher's table. Snape was sitting there. I never personally had anything against Snape. He wasn't my favorite teacher (a title reserved for Hagrid) but he was okay at potions.

Slughorn was at the main table as well, though he did not look at all happy. I felt almost sorry for him, but forced myself to ignore that.

I noticed there were no new students. I really wasn't surprised. With the war official, even Snape couldn't argue that logic.

Snape stood up, talking, blathering on about how sorry he was that Dumbledore was gone. I zoned out, turning my attention instead to the tables. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff looked grim. Slytherin merely looked smug. Daphne Greengrass looked slightly depressed, but that could be due to any number of things. Personally I thought it was because Ron wasn't here.

My eye did catch on an unfamiliar face. She was pretty, with long blonde hair and soft looking bronze skin. I thought I knew everyone in the school. She looked new.

"Earth to Ginny!"

I blinked at Lavender. "Sorry, what's up?"

"Food."

I looked down to see she was right. I grinned slightly shamefacedly at her. "Just out of it a bit."

Curiously enough, I didn't mind Lavender. Even after her thing with Ron, I still liked her enough to talk to her.

I ate in silence, trying to come up with a game plan for the year. Neville doubtless had many hijinks planned. I had seen him talking with the twins at the wedding. I only hoped I could keep him from getting himself killed.

"Hey Gin?"

I snapped my head up to stare at Padma and Parvati. I swallowed the mouthful of mashed potatoes, wondering how long they had been standing there.

"Yeah?"

"We were just... uh... wondering, you know..."

"Are you going to keep the DA running?" Colin asked from my other side.

I blinked again, feeling a bit like an owl. It had never even occured to me to bring back Harry's Army thing.

I opened my mouth to say no, then stopped myself. I didn't want to keep it going because it reminded me of Harry. But then I looked around the table. Just about every face was leaning towards me, including Neville. They really wanted to keep this going, I saw. It wasn't a half bad idea, but I had no clue why they wanted me to run this thing.

Okay, thinking about Fred and George, I had a safe bet. I made up my mind.

"I'll do it. But we have to keep this quiet. Quieter than last time." I fixed my gaze on Cho and Marrietta who were eavesdropping. Marrietta blushed but nodded.

(A/N: Well? Do you guys like it? I have the next two chapters written as well, so I can tell you now, it gets a hell of a lot better!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I recruited Neville for my second in command. I wanted him to be first, but he protested that he was planning a few things that were likely to get him in trouble so it was best if we had a different leader, in case he became incarcerated. His words, not mine.

It was a little daunting, that first meeting. We met in the Room of Requirement, but remembering fourth year, I decided to try for some innovations. The meeting had over thirty students and I realized I wasn't going to be able to hide the fact that they were all going to the same hall and disappearing.

A couple of the students were practicing for their apparation tests and that gave me an idea. You could Apparate inside the Room of Requirement but you couldn't Apparate anywhere else in the school. Naturally that wasn't much help, but then I remembered my Charms book. I was always really good at charms and after the first meeting I sat down and began to make Portkeys.

Mostly I used paintings and small knicknacks from around the castle. Neville and Luna helped me try all the Portkeys. All of them took us to the Room of Requirements. It was a pretty nifty idea and Neville was impressed.

At the second meeting I introduced all of the Portkeys. A few girls asked if I could show them how to make those. Since it was a pretty simple spell, I agreed.

The weeks chased each other by. Pretty soon we had almost everyone from Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. The majority of our teachers managed to keep us up to date on our spells and such, but there was so much more to learn. Defense Against the Dark Arts became a joke, with all of our work being paper work.

Quidditch started. Snape couldn't stop it unless students were in danger and the DA was keeping pretty much everyone up on their spells.

Quidditch was a mixed blessing for me. For starters, I was one of the only returning members and since McGonnagall knew about the DA, she appointed me the Team Captain. As If I didn't have enough going on.

Still Quidditch was pretty mindless most of the time for me, so I spent most of that time working out DA problems in my head. The biggest problem was Daphne Greengrass.

Daphne approached me a week after school started.

"Ginny?"

I had been playing Quidditch and was cooling down in the locker room which meant we were both alone.

"Uh.. Hi."

She approached me, wringing her hands nervously. Daphne was also a Quidditch girl, playing beater for Slytherin.

"Um... look, you have to promise not to tell anyone I did this," She said, looking fierce for a moment.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Um... 'kay."

"I... I want some help with Defense Against the Dark Arts."

I blinked at her, shocked at the turn of events. "Okay... what brought this on?"

Daphne sighed and sat down on the bench beside me. Not for the first time, I saw her as a human and not a Slytherin bitch.

"Snape isn't teaching us anything. And wars have this way of... getting out of control. Sooner or later _he's_ not going be satisfied with just the muggles and muggle borns. Soon it will be the Muggle Lovers. Then anyone who's ever spoken with a Muggle. Sooner or later, Voldemort's going to dig deep enough into all of our closets and find a skeleton. He's not going to be happy until he's better than everyone else. And... I don't want to wait til that decision's been made to wipe me out to start fighting."

"The best defense is a good offense," I muttered.

She caught it and smiled. "So, now you know."

"Indeed."

I paused, thinking things through. "I can't have you come to the official meetings. But I can set up private meetings. We can discuss what you want to cover and go from there. I will warn you, there are some areas I am not the best at, but I can probably convince some of the others to help you out."

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

888

I'm sure you have some idea by now what my year was looking like. I accepted what I had on my plate. I wasn't terribly happy with it. I never really liked being the center of attention. I'm like Harry in that regard. But like it or not, I had attention.

Unfortunately, the one person whose attention I really wanted, was preoccupied. Draco Malfoy was busy with Ehnola Gray.

I hated Ehnola.

Daphne and I had decided we would practice her long distance spells this week. I wasn't the best at them either and I saw it as an excuse to practice myself. I had used a few spells Professor McGonnagall had taught me for Quidditch. They were designed to keep others from watching your practice. It worked just as well for any activity.

Daphne stood at one end of the Quidditch field and I stood at the other.

"Try to disarm me, Daphne," I shouted out to her. I saw her nod and brandish her wand.

Long distance casting wasn't anything special. Anyone could cast a spell as far as they could see. The problem was that the spells were easy to see coming. Even the Killing Curse could be dodged if you had enough distance. I had never seen it done myself, but there were reports of it going back centuries.

Daphne threw a spell at me and I dodged it, recognizing the silvery blue glow of the spell. Each spell had a slightly different color. I knew most of them but there were still a few that stumped me. I aimed a tickling spell at Daphne. She managed to dodge it and tried the disarming spell again.

We kept it up for half an hour, drawing closer as the time progressed. Daphne finally misjudged one spell and fell to the ground laughing. I released her and we decided to call it a night.

"Get some sleep. You want to run this again tomorrow?" I asked, slipping into my robe again.

"Yeah, and the Patronis Charm as well."

I nodded. "Alright."

I stretched, gathering the rest of my things. Looking at my watch I decided I had time to take a bath and have the bath to myself. Most of the other prefects would be running drills with Neville and the Slytherin prefects would be down in their own bathroom.

I made my way up to the bathroom on the second floor. I slipped in, undressing and soaking in the bath. It felt great to just relax for a few minutes if nothing else. I rolled my head, letting the stress ease away.

Finally I sighed, getting up out of the bath.

I was reaching for my towel when the door to the bath area opened, admitting Draco Malfoy. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and the steam was already glistening off his fantastic chest and abdomen. I stared at him for a moment before it sunk in that he could probably see me. More importantly, he could see everything from my hips up, everything that was out of the soapy water.

My jaw dropped and I screamed.

"Oh _my_ GOD! Get out get OUT GET OUT _GET OUT__** GET OUT!"**_

He winced and backed out. I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around me before storming out into the main part of the bathroom where Draco stood.

He was trying not to look at me and I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of what he had seen.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" I snarled.

"Taking a bath, Weasley. Last I checked it wasn't against any rules."

"In the girl's bath?"

He blinked then looked past me to the sign on the door. I knew it said Ladies.

"Shit."

He managed a shamefaced look. I crossed my arms over my now towel covered chest. We were silent for a few minutes and I found myself sneaking glimpses of his legs. He had very fine hair and it looked like he had none. I suddenly wanted to embarrass him. It was just so damn tempting.

"Well?" I demanded.

He looked up at me, crinkling that perfect brow in a rare display of emotion. "Beg pardon Weasley?"

"Well, you saw my goods."

He suddenly got what Charlie described as 'a deer in the headlights' type look. He backed up. "Uh... No I didn't..."

I was having fun. I sidled towards him, swinging my hips seductively.

His eyes went even wider.

"Oh, but I think you did," I purred, placing a hand on his chest.

"I only saw your breasts!" He shouted suddenly.

I took my hand off him, cocking my head. His face relaxed and I figured he had something planned.

"Was that not enough?" I asked calmly.

"Well, you don't have much more to see of me," he drawled. "In order for me to take off my towel, I would have to see the rest of you."

I let my lips curl into a catish smile. "Well then."

I reached down to the edge of my towel, sliding it up my thigh towards my hips. Draco's eyes went wider than I thought possible and he gasped some excuse, running from the room in nothing more than his towel.

Once I was certain he was gone, I fell to the marble floor, laughing my ass off.

(A/N: Yea! I love working on this story. I do love it so.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Pretty girl is suffering, while he confesses everything. Pretty soon she'll figure out, what his intentions were about," I sang softly as I made my way down to the dungeons.

It was three days since the episode in the bathroom with Draco. After I recovered from my laughter, I noticed that Draco had left his clothes in the bathroom. Since I felt like irritating him some more, I took them. After washing them, I debated. Finally I decided to take them back to him on Saturday.

It was Saturday now and I was dressed in my Muggle clothes. Since Ron and all other brotherly influences were out of the picture, I had chosen a pleated skirt of mine that I had outgrown by several inches. I still had the waist line to wear it but it hovered just at decent. My shirt was slightly more demure, a white button up that came to my middrift. It would have been decent, but I had left the first three buttons undone so you got a decent view of my chest. I was a bitch and I was loving it.

"And That's what you get for fallin' in love," I sang, trotting down the stairs to the Slytherin common room. A few years ago Fred and George had learned the password to the common room. Apparently they had never changed it. Which suited my purposes just fine.

I was about to say the password when the door opened. A pretty girl with blonde hair was staring at me. I belatedly recognized her as Ehnola Gray.

"Oh, Miss... Westley, isn't it?"

"Weasley," I corrected. Her eyes widened imperceptibly.

"Just what did you want?"

"Is Draco in?" I asked, thrusting my chest forward slightly. I had a much better rack than the blonde before me and she knew it.

"I'm afraid not," she said, shifting so I couldn't see past her without making it obvious that I was doing so.

"That's a pity," I crooned. I didn't like her. Not at all. "Well, I suppose I'll have to ask you to do this for me." I held out the black jeans and white polo Draco had been wearing. "Give these to him for me, sweetness," I asked prettily.

Ehnola's pretty face twisted momentarily in rage. Then she got ahold of herself like the good little conniving snake she was. She smiled back at me. "Of course, dear. I'm sure he'll need them for our next date."

I had a pretty good idea that she was lying to me. Still, I had one more card to play. As Ehnola turned to the common room, I reached out and grabbed her arm. I could see into the common room from this position. Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott were sitting on one of the couches. They looked up at Ehnola's movement. Their jaws dropped, boosting up my ego a notch. Daphne came into the room at the same time. She followed their gazes and had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

Ehnola knew what I was doing. I wasn't exactly certain why I was doing this. I didn't think I liked Draco. But for some reason I didn't want him with this little bitch.

I waited 'til I had their complete attention then delicately extracted a black lacy bra from the stack of clothes. I had borrowed the bra from Lavender, but no one needed to know that.

"Opps!" I giggled. "Guess this got mixed up with his stuff... somehow."

Ehnola's face was a wonderful mask of fury. Daphne was grinning broadly at me and I suddenly realized that we could be friends. Blaise and Theodore were staring at 'my' bra and grinning. I knew Draco would hear about this.

I turned away then, flouncing off so my skirt bounced up to reveal a few peeks of my dark green undies. Draco was fun as hell to mess with but I think Ehnola's going to be even more fun.

I was feeling pretty good about myself. Which was probably why everything went to hell the next day.

888

For the first time in almost five years, I dreamed of Tom Riddle.

In my dream I was dancing. At first it was no one I knew, I was just twirling around with a forgettable face. After a few moments, I looked down at my dress. It was pure white, coming down to the floor, cut like a Celtic wedding gown.

I looked around for someone and in that moment a new hand took mine.

I turned back to see Draco holding my hand. "Oh!" I gasped.

He smiled at me and I noticed I was wearing a new dress. This one came to the floor as well, but was a sequined midnight green that slit to the hip. There were no sleeves but spaghetti straps.

"Hi..." I breathed.

"Hey, beautiful," he drawled back to me. I knew this was a dream.

Fuck it all, I decided, leaning in to kiss him.

"I'm flattered, Red."

That voice.

I froze, looking through my lashes at the handsome face of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Let go of me," I hissed, at a loss for breath.

He pulled me closer. "I'm coming for you, Red."

"Let go of me!" I snarled, struggling now.

He crushed me to his body and I saw I was wearing a short blood red dress with tattered sleeves and skirt. His fingers dug into my left wrist. I pulled my right away from him but he grabbed it with his left, pulling it behind my back. We had stopped dancing and his left knee nudged between my legs. Though I knew it was a dream, I felt the pain.

"I'm coming for you, Red. Nothing's going to stop me."

"What about Harry?" I hissed.

He pulled my left arm behind my back, taking both hands in one of his.

"Red, he can't really stop me."

He tilted my head back, pushing my legs further apart with his knee. I wanted him to tell me more, tell me what his plan was. But I had sworn I would never be so helpless again. I dug my fingers into the small of my back, drawing blood.

I awoke in bed, sitting up. I brought my hands up, looking at the fresh blood under my fingernails.

I stared around the darkened Prefect room. Since Hermione was gone, I had the room to myself. The room connected to sixth year girl's dormitory and some of my class mates came in in the morning to use my wall of mirrors. The mirrors weren't my idea.

I sat there in bed for a few moments then the lights went up, announcing that my friends were awake.

I looked over as Chloe Stevens and Abigail Finn came in. They were DA girls as well and among the few girls I could stand.

"Oh, Gin! Sorry, were you asleep?" Chloe asked.

"Nah, just getting up," I managed, getting out of bed.

Chloe and Abigail started talking about their plans for today, which included hanging out with some of the upper classmen.

I resigned myself to it, pulling out a tee shirt and jeans.

"Oh, my god, Ginny!"

I blinked blearily at Abigail. "What?"

"What did you do?"

I blinked again. "Huh?"

"Your wrists!" Chloe cried.

I looked down.

From wrist to three inches below my elbows, I was covered in bruises. I tried to tell myself they were just accidents.

Accidents in the shape of fingers.

(A/N: le gasp! horrible right? I nearly fell out of my chair when this chapter came to me. Oh, and the song Ginny is singing at the start of the chapter is Pretty Girl by Sugarcult. Look it up. I'm starting to like She's the Blade by them as well.

Also, strawberry/chocolate brownies for everyone! Because we all need some love and you guys are just so awesome. :3


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I pulled a pair of fingerless elbow length gloves on (presents from Luna) and made my way to the Infirmary. The gloves were bright pink and doubtless would garner me more attention than if I had left the gloves off. Still, they were oddly in character for me, so I doubted anyone would place too much emphasis on them.

The plan was to get in and out of the infirmary without anyone saying anything. Since it was Sunday, the castle was quite, with most of the students content to stay in their rooms and talk.

I had bigger fish to fry. I managed to avoid anyone who might have asked me about the gloves and slipped relatively easily into the infirmary only to have the wind blown quite effectively out of my sails.

I expected to see Madam Pomphrey. A logical expectation all things considered.

Given my past and my strong feelings regarding Death Eaters, you can understand why I was utterly flabbergasted to see Bellatrix Lestrange standing in the Infirmary.

She was wearing her normal dark purple robes and for a moment I entertained the thought that maybe she was just visiting.

She turned as I opened the door, her dark brown eyes glittering cruelly at me. Her face curled into a wicked smile that did not quite meet her eyes.

"Well, well, Ginevra Weasley. What brings you to my part of the castle?"

I managed somehow to keep my jaw from dropping.

"Excuse me?" I managed after an awkward moment.

"I'm afraid Madam Pomphrey had to take a leave of absence suddenly. She wasn't feeling too well."

I used Bella's bogus excuse to compose myself. I was certain Pomphrey wasn't hurt. She was too good a medi witch. No, they just took her away from anyone who might need her and were probably using her themselves. That was comforting. Still, I was reluctant to show my bruises to Bellatrix Lestrange, of all people. No, I had this sinking feeling that No one should go near her.

Which left me with another problem. I had to keep my friends healthy and I knew some of the stunts Neville had planned would leave him in considerable pain unless I could scrounge up a medi witch or wizard.

Having yet another task delegated to me made me ornery. I looked at Bellatrix, the cause of my newest problem and decided to torture her a little bit.

"Madam Regan?" I asked quite wickedly.

Bellatrix froze. All right, so I'm a bitch.

She turned back to me, her cold eyes sparkling like diamonds now. There was no glee, malicious or otherwise in those cruel eyes.

"What did you say?" she hissed.

I put a hand to my lips as if it had merely been a slip of the tongue. Both of us knew better.

"I'm terribly sorry! It's Silva now isn't it? Or is it Lestrange? You've had so many I can't quite keep track."

I suppose this requires a bit of explanation. Ever since the Chamber ordeal, I had taken great pains to look up as many of the Death Eaters as I could. Bellatrix Lestrange hid her tracks well, but I found her before long. She had married two times before her current marriage. In both she had tried for children but never succeeded. Now, I threw my discoveries into her face, watching her facade tumble into raw fury and honest admiration.

"Miss Weasley-" she began but I cut her off.

"Terribly sorry! I must leave you now. Do think kindly of me," I drawled in a good approximation of Malfoy's arrogant drawl.

She shot out an arm, catching my own. "How did you know about that?" she hissed, referring, doubtlessly to her previous marriages.

I cocked my head, formulating a quick lie. She didn't need to know the truth. A few white lies, to keep her wary, wouldn't hurt.

"How to open the Chamber wasn't the only thing your dear Riddle taught me."

I retrieved my arm from her grip and left the room, trying to hold my composure as long as I could.

Once in the hall, I fell to my knees, shaking.

888

Once I regained my composure, I made my way down to the Great Hall. It was a Sunday, so the hall wasn't as crowded as it could have been, but a few DA members were there and I spread the word that Bellatrix Lestrange was not to be trusted. Most seemed to agree with that and I left them with that message to pass around.

Though Bellatrix was a certified mediwitch, I did not trust her for a moment. Which meant I would have to get someone to learn the skills, at least the basics.

And really, I decided, it had to be me. I was the glue holding the whole operation together. Daphne, should she get hurt, would come to no other in the DA. And the others trusted me already.

The more I thought about it, the more I knew all this to be true. I would teach a few others, just so I wasn't taking the world on my own, but I would have to be damn good anyway.

I made my way up to the library. I had permission to go into the restricted area and I planned to use that as much as I could. I gathered a stack of books on the principles and basics of mediwitchery. No time like the present.

I was halfway through an incredibly dry tome, when my world became much much more complicated.

(A/N: Cliffie? Who? Me? Don't talk crazy! Sorry for my erratic updates lately but my play is going into tech week so I'm a little frazzled.

To Ami- Isn't Ginny freakin' awesome? I love writing for her!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

What happened, you ask? Draco Malfoy walked in, closely followed by Pansy Parkinson and Ehnola Gray.

I may have told you already that I do not like Ehnola. Let me specify. I do not like Pansy Parkinson. She is a grasping dirty little whore. I would gladly kill the little bitch.

So you understand just how eagerly I would destroy Ehnola when I say I liked her less than I do Pansy. In fact I was coming close to loathing her.

Draco looked ready to kill both the girls. As much as he annoys me, I decided to cut the poor boy some slack. I bookmarked my page in the text and stood up, stretching languidly.

The movement caught Draco's eye and he turned towards me with a look that bordered between horror and the most profound relief ever. I actually felt bad for the boy.

"Weasley," he drawled, coming over. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to relinquish your table."

I could see in his eyes he expected, wanted me to say no. He wanted me to free him from these bimbos. I considered not helping him. He deserved no less. However, one look at Ehnola and I knew I couldn't be that cruel to him. I smiled charmingly at him. "'Fraid not, mate."

Ehnola saw this as a victory for herself. She smiled smugly.

I sat back down, gesturing grandly at the table. "I'm quite busy. However..."

Draco brightened at that 'however.'

"However," I continued, smirking smugly at Ehnola. "I've got room for one more."

Draco smirked back and glanced at the girls. Then he sat down across from me. Pansy pouted but flounced off, doubtless in search of Theo Nott. Ehnola glared at me but I ignored her.

Finally Ehnola stormed off. I pulled my book back into my lap, happy for my victory. I planned to ignore him, focusing instead on finishing my book.

"Medicine? Didn't know you were into that."

I looked up at Draco. "What's it to you, princess?"

"Princess? I beg your pardon!" he spluttered.

"Stop acting like a girl and I'll call you something slightly more gender appropriate."

He sulked. I let him, sinking back into my book again.

"So just why are you studying medical texts like they're dying off?"

I looked up at him. "So you haven't heard then, have you?"

"Heard what?" he asked, nudging through my books.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is running the infirmary." I replied, looking back to my texts. I glanced up at him through my lashes.

He looked shell shocked. "What crazy idiot did that piece of insanity?"

"Oh, I'd imagine Snape did."

"Professor," He corrected.

A snide comeback came to my mouth but I bit it back for some reason I couldn't fully grasp.

He smirked at my silence, taking it as a win. "What? No comeback?"

I smiled prettily at him. "If you want comeback, you might try looking in Gray's mouth."

Draco laughed, a wonderfully genuine sound that made me glad I had the power to bring it about.

"Don't like her much, do you, Weasley?"

"What ever gave you that idea?" I asked, flipping through a rather boring chapter on rashes. Fred and George had taught me a few spells to prevent rashes and to clear them up. I did jot a note on a spare page of paper, just in case.

"I thought girls like you got along with everyone."

I flicked my hair from my face and studied him. "What kind of girls? Poor ones, or just Gryffindors in general?"

Draco seemed to realize he was in dangerous water here. I could nail his balls to the chair for either version.

"Nice girls. Or are you not such a nice girl, Weasley?"

I grinned at him. "You have no idea, my conniving little git."

Yup, he has no idea that I like him. Of course at that time, I didn't know it myself.

(A/N: All bets are off for the next chapter. You'll see what I mean. Hope you all liked this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Life trudged on for me. The first Quidditch match of the year came and went. Hufflepuff played Slytherin and lost, which surprised no one.

Halloween threw me for a loop.

I was under the impression I was doing pretty good. I had four other girls on the medi-witch thing beside myself, including Daphne. I was still doing the bulk of the work, that is to say, learning the spells first then teaching them to the others. Daphne, who had unlimited access to the Potions supplies, made most of the potions and draughts for us.

I felt a little bad that I couldn't tell the DA about her being responsible for the potions, but as she pointed out, most of them wouldn't trust her. So I let the DA believe I made them.

Daphne and I were getting along quite well, which was nice. She was pretty straightlaced and she laughed at most of my jokes, which was a good thing. One thing I knew how to do well was tell jokes. Fred and George saw to that.

Now Snape was trying for some reason to keep us from leaving Hogwarts for too long. Part of me wanted to believe he wasn't all bad and knew that the students were safe on the grounds. Which was true, mostly. Dumbledore threw some pretty powerful protection spells up around Hogwarts before he died, or maybe because he died they showed up. What ever the reason, Hogwarts was pretty safe for now. A full assault wouldn't be able to break through right away, but they would be able to if the DA didn't step it up. Which meant more work for me.

But I digress. The point is, Snape was coming up with new reasons for us to stay on campus. The part of me that thought he was a horrid man who deserved to have several trees fall on him figured he was trying to suck up to the students and seduce us to the dark side.

Alright, so I may have watched the Star Wars movies for the first time over summer break with Tonks.

Anyhow, Snape's newest plan was a Halloween gala. Word around the DA was that he wanted it to be a costume thing but McGonnagall and the others had put their collective feet down. I could understand. I wouldn't want everyone around in costumes. Especially given current circumstances.

That was fine with me. I had nothing to wear so I was entirely planning on skipping the entire gala thing. However, Neville pointed out to me that it might be a bad idea to be missing.

Nev has been getting his ass kicked lately. I've been doing my best, but he's still going to have some impressive scars from his 'detentions'. Part of me felt sorry for him but the other part said he deserved a few bruises. Nothing like the six inch gash I repaired on him yesterday, but still, a few bloody lips were enough, I felt. Besides, those I could fix easily.

"Ginny, they're looking for you," Nev pointed out to me as I worked on Colin's black eye. The Creevey boys had been following in Nev's footsteps and pulling pranks all around the school. Nothing they could get seriously nailed down for, but they got into fights at least twice a week. Lately Nev used that as a distraction to try and get more information to get to Harry and company.

It felt weird, I suddenly realized. I hadn't thought of Harry in months. I guess we just weren't meant to be. If we were the stupid git would have taken me with him and not tried to take on the world by himself.

"Looking for me?" I repeated dubiously, moving to a shallow cut in Dennis' temple. It was shallow but his face was covered in dried blood. Not that I was surprised or terribly worried. Head wounds always bleed the worst.

"Why?" I asked, cleaning off the blood with a flick of my wand.

"Because they know the DA is back in commission."

"So? That doesn't mean they can find us. Especially with the tunnel to Hogsmeade now."

Nev beamed for a moment. He had found the tunnel. I was proud of him. It was a nice little extra.

"They can't, but they can take you into custody."

I frowned. I hadn't thought of that. The DA would probably survive without me for a while, but eventually someone would talk to get me back. Much as I hated to admit it, the whole crew looked up to me. I was some kind of hero to them.

"They might even take you to see Him if you don't cooperate."

My scowl deepened but I knew my face was white. That was the last thing I ever wanted to do. Riddle and I had past and I liked to keep it there: in the past.

"Alright, but how will going to some stupid little party change all that?" I asked, leaning over Dennis' forehead with my wand.

Nev waited til I was done with Dennis' forehead before he continued.

"It will show them that you aren't afraid and that you have nothing to hide."

"Hiding in plain sight?" I asked, motioning Colin to pull up his shirt. He said he felt like one of his ribs was broken. I was pretty sure it wasn't but if he got hit that badly, he probably had some handsome bruising. Sexy as girls would doubtless find it, I decided to secure my friend's innocence a little bit longer and fix him up nice.

"Pretty much. Will you go?"

I sighed, running my hands over Colin's bruised ribs. I felt no breaks. I aimed my wand at him and muttered a new spell for detecting internal injuries. Sadly, the spell did not differentiate from bruises, broken bones and a ruptured appendix.

"Fine, fine," I replied, magicking away the bruises and trying the spell again. Nothing.

"You're good, Col. But Nev, If I'm going to this bloody thing, you're finding me a damn dress."

Nev grinned, the scar on his cheek distorting his smile but still making him look sexy as hell. "Thanks, Gin! I knew I could count on you."

I swear, if he wasn't like a brother, I would get ideas about that boy.

888

Nev pulled through like he always seems to and two weeks later I was plucking at the fishnets I had borrowed from Daphne. I tried Lavender and Romilda both but neither had more than one pair without runs. Fishnets were not my idea of a sophisticated night, but since Nev neglected that part of the outfit, I wouldn't complain. I was just glad to have something.

Nev had managed to get me a long black dress. It fell to the floor with slits up both sides to the thighs. It was strapless and for once I was glad I had enough cleavage to keep it from falling down. It had spirals on it in glittering silver sequins. Lavender had done my hair up in a twisting, curly thing with tons of silver and black bobby pins.

I actually looked pretty good once I stole some lipstick from Abigail Finn. Naturally I expected to catch the eye of a certain someone. A blonde guy. A Slytherin.

I want to say I only wanted to seduce him for the hell of it, but it went deeper than that. I almost, kinda liked him. Not enough to admit it, but enough that I would be mildly upset to see him fall into Parkinson's or Gray's clutches.

Mostly Gray.

So perhaps you have some handle on my feelings when I entered the great hall to see Ehnola Gray wrapping her fake tan arms around Draco's neck.

(A/N: I warned you.)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

I'm generally cool in a crisis.

This was not a crisis, but that is beside the point. The point is, I nearly lost it right then and there. First I got mad at Gray. A logical choice. She was wearing something incredibly slutty that reminded me of a cocktail napkin.

I allowed myself to calm down and not reach for my wand which was stuck down my fishnets.

I grabbed the first boy that came by which happened to be Theodore Nott and started to dance with him. I was glad Ron wasn't there. He would have flipped.

Theo was having trouble breathing for some reason. I think it was because of the proximity to my cleavage. I wasn't really paying attention. He seemed to know that and was using this as an excuse to stare at my girl bits.

I led the dance, angling us closer to Draco and Gray.

"Jealous, Red?"

I snapped my head back at the superlative.

"Don't call me that," I hissed to Theo, watching Draco again.

"Sorry!" he replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "But are you jealous?"

"Why do you care?" I asked him, finally looking at him. He was good looking, I supposed, like a snide, scar-free version of Neville.

"Well, Ginger, in case you haven't noticed, but Slytherins are snide, sarcastic, evil people. Our women are snakes with breasts."

"And you want to, what? Rescue your mate from this horrible fate?" I asked, doubt coming through in my voice.

He slipped his right arm around my waist and dipped me back elegantly. "Blaise and I are a bit bored. Since your lovely DA won't take us, we have to find other means to keep ourselves occupied."

I blanched as he pulled me back up."Nott-" I began

He held up a hand. "Don't worry, Ginger. We won't tell."

"So why are you doing this?" I asked, suspiciously.

He shrugged. "Blaise and I get bored easily. Pulling Draco away from that lovely mink and putting him safely in your slightly vicious arms would keep us more than amused."

"That's it? You two just work your magic and Dr-Malfoy leaves her? There's just a bit of animosity between us, you know."

"Yeah, but your brothers aren't here. Total bonus. If they were, I wouldn't have survived this dance."

I had to admit he was right. And the idea of humiliating Gray was very tempting. Almost too tempting.

"Look, Ginger," Theo said, stepping away as the song ended. "You don't have to decide just now. But when ever you get tired of fighting Gray for our Master Malfoy, you just let us know. But don't wait too long. I can't speak for Blaise, but I imagine trying to woo you over would keep me just as amused."

He kissed my hand with a smile and disappeared into the crowd.

I stared after him for a while before a Hufflepuff seventh year asked me to dance.

888

Now, I'm not one for jumping to conclusions. So I decided to investigate Malfoy and his new girl toy.

I was secretly hoping it was just some sort of fling. I mean, he appeared to hate her. But as November crested, pushing towards December and Christmas break, I had to face some facts. Somehow, in the course of the past weeks, Draco had fallen for the cow Ehnola Gray.

At first I wanted kill the both of them. Let them be some Romeo and Juliet for all I cared.

I got over that impulse quickly as the days passed. Though it pained me, I saw them together almost every day.

Alright, so I would admit, I was a little jealous. Under his scowl, Malfoy was a half way decent looking human being and he had a smile that could melt your socks, when he chose to share it.

However, my mother raised me properly and I wasn't going to destroy a couple that might someday be happy. And Draco genuinely looked happy. Which made keeping my distance even harder.

I was almost ready to just give it up. Then came the night that changed every thing.

(A/N: Let me say it for you. Yes, I wrote a cliffie. Sorry.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Since the dream about Riddle a few months back, I had managed to keep him out of my dreams. It wasn't too hard. I was working hard and I was usually too exhausted for dreams.

The night before Christmas break would start, I actually managed an easy day. Which meant I could dream.

I was delighted to find that Gray was going home for the break and that Draco wasn't. I had planned on using the break as my final attempt to destroy his relationship. Then I would give up.

Or maybe when I died.

In any case, I read for a bit then went to sleep, glad that most of the DA was going home for break.

I awoke in a large room. The room was laid out like a dinning room. A fire glittered in the far fireplace, casting a glow about the room that did nothing to destroy the eerie feeling the room gave me.

I knew I was dreaming. Generally when you're standing up and you don't remember how you got there, it's probably a dream.

Or a spell. However, since my hand went right through the table before me, I was opting for a dream.

I looked around the dimly lit room. The table was easily as big as any from the great hall but was pristine while the Great Hall tables were comfortably worn. As my twisted mind speculated on what this table was used for, a pair of figures entered the hall.

I hissed in shock as I recognized them both. The first was Lucius Malfoy, terribly recognizable with his mane of whitish hair. He was dressed as usual in his black robes and had his stupid cane in his hand. He looked slightly nervous. The reason for his nervousness was most likely the young man beside him.

Tom Riddle looked just as he did the day I met him through the diary. That is to say, impeccable and cold.

And handsome. Much as I hated to admit it, he was still the sexiest man I had ever met. I knew if I didn't keep reminding myself how much I hated him for destroying my life, I might fall again.

I mentally shook myself. That was a road I was not going to go down again.

Riddle turned to Malfoy. "Is everything prepared?" he hissed.

Malfoy nodded, his jaw tight.

"When will it happen?"

"On the third of May," interjected a new voice.

I knew that voice. I knew that fucking voice.

I turned, slower than I would have in real time. There, still in her Hogwart's clothes, was Ehnola Gray. I remembered she had taken a train from Hogsmeade earlier that day which would explain why she was here.

"Ehnola…" Riddle rasped. Riddle's voice was like kissing a blender. It was cold and could kill you at any moment yet you kept trying again and again, testing your luck.

"How are things going on your end?" Malfoy Sr. asked, taking her hand and sitting her down.

She smiled that smug and irritating smile. I wanted to go over and slap her but my body wouldn't listen anymore.

"Quite. The spell worked well."

That stopped my efforts to regain control of my body and kill the bimbo.

What spell?

"Then he loves you?"

"He thinks he does, yes," she turned her gaze to Riddle. "I thought you said I wouldn't have a problem."

"You shouldn't have. What got in your way?"

"Not what, who."

I could tell from the way Riddle's face twitched that he knew exactly who Gray was talking about. I had a good idea myself.

"Who?"

"That Weasley girl had him pretty neatly under her own kind of spell."

Riddle smirked. "Ah, the charm of the Weasley women. A few cookies and a smile and men fall at their feet. God help us if they got it in their brains to mass produce their baked goods."

Lucius was frowning. "I wouldn't have thought my son would have fallen for that."

"Greater men than him have fallen and will fall," Riddle said. He turned back to Ehnola. "I see you had some problems with your own feminine wiles."

"The girl is good. I did have to resort to a more barbaric means. Even that isn't fully permanent."

"Will it wear off before the sacrifice?"

Sacrifice? I most definitely did not like the sound of that…

"Don't you worry. Darling little Draco will walk willingly up to his death."

I awoke then, drenched in cold sweat.

I sat in my bed for a few minutes, letting the fire in the hearth warm me. Though it warmed my body, I felt cold inside. I had no way to know if Riddle had shown me this to taunt me, to rush me like he had Harry. I wanted to believe that he had no control over it. I had slipped into his mind before.

But that would mean… on May third… Draco Malfoy, the object of my reluctant fascination, would die…

The love spell would explain Draco's sudden interest in Ehnola. She said it wasn't permanent. Many such spells were able to be countered if tested enough. So if I…

I jumped from my bed and practically flew from the dorms. I was in the dungeons in moments, knocking loudly on the door of the Slytherin common room.

Blaise Zabini answered in a pair of boxer shorts, closely followed by a slightly more awake Theo. Blaise stared at me as I stood there, chest heaving, in one of Bill's old tee shirts. I probably looked a mess but I didn't care.

"Ginger?" Theo asked. "What…"

"Theo, Blaise, I have a favor to ask of you."

Blaise managed to look away from my chest and legs long enough to meet my eyes as he asked, "What favor?"

I took a deep breath.

"Make him love me."

(A/N: And so the universal hatred of Ehnola begins.

To xoxo: Glad you like it!

To Roni2010: Ginny is super fun to write for. hope she keeps you entertained in the chapter to come!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

I had a deadline. The fact that my deadline was more than five months away, totally helped me to remain calm.

Still, the result of the deadline loomed darkly in my mind. Draco would die.

Okay, so I was finally ready to admit it. He was the man I loved. He was snarky, bitter and resentful. And I loved him.

There was good news and bad news. The good news was that I had three weeks until the others came back. Three weeks to do everything in my power to pull Draco to me.

The bad news was I only had three weeks to woo him. Three weeks to break whatever spell they had on him.

Blaise and Theo were being awesome. Everything began easily enough. Blaise started by committing to memory my schedule and sending me no less then two owls every hour, minute by minute updates of Draco's schedule for the next several hours including dozens of ways to 'casually' bump into Draco.

I was nervous about everything of course, which was where Theo came in. Theo began clinging to me.

Without my brother around, he started that first morning of break.

I sat down at my table and was immediately joined by Theo. "Hello, Ginger," he caroled.

"Um...Hi, Theo. What brings you here?"

"Well, Blaise and I were wondering what you were planning for today."

I blinked at him. "Well, I was going to have breakfast..."

"I meant in regards to those letters we sent you."

I glanced at my bag where I had stored the sheafs of paper then looked past him to where Blaise was sitting not far from Draco. Blaise looked poised for something and I had the mental image of a hawk preparing for the kill to come.

"Do you expect me to just accost him every time I see him?" I asked Theo, curious.

"Well, yeah," he replied as if this were common behavior in all females.

"I'm not going to corner him at-" I consulted Blaise's notes "-eleven oh nine just to make out with him for three seconds before he has to go to Legimancy lessons."

Theo sighed. "We were afraid you were going to say that."

He leaned over suddenly. I tried to pull back but he grabbed my head and tilted it. "Close your eyes," he whispered.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes but did as he said. I expected him to kiss me but he only ran a finger down my cheek and along my jaw.

"Now open your eyes and tell me what Draco is doing."

I did as he asked, feeling a bit lightheaded. Theo would not have had a big struggle to get into my heart if he kept acting this way.

Draco had his head cocked, a surprisingly hurt look on his face, as if me giving in to Theo's advances was unexpected and painful to him. Blaise was watching us with a slight smile.

Draco's hurt expression sent resentment bubbling in my chest. How dare he be upset about this! He was the one who was willingly under Gray's stupid spell.

I sent a smoldering look at him over Theo's shoulder as I got to my feet.

"Thanks for that, Theo. You're a doll," I drawled before kissing his cheek. With one last vicious look at Draco, I flounced out of the Great Hall.

888

After a morning spent in the library, avoiding both Draco and my accomplices, I decided I needed to get my butt in gear.

When I came out of the bathroom on my way to lunch, Draco was leaning against the far wall.

"What is your problem?" he asked.

"My problem?" I repeated dully.

"Yeah. What was that this morning?"

"Do you mean where darling Theo demonstrated his affections for me?" I returned in his drawl.

His lips curled in a snarl but his voice sounded calm. "We both know you don't like Theo."

"Don't I?" I asked. "You don't know what or who I like."

"Don't I?" he mimicked. "You don't like heroes any more. At least not those self sacrificing types." He moved towards me, circling me with an arrogance that was annoying. "You don't like arrogance, even when it's true. You like having a guy that needs you, even if it's only to save him from the unwanted advances of a lesser female. You don't like doing everything yourself."

I grabbed his shirt as he attempted to circle me again.

"You're wrong, Draco. First, I don't love every hero that passes my way. Just because I'm pissed at Harry, though, doesn't mean I don't still get weak at the knees when I see a guy holding the door for me. Secondly, I hate arrogance and I hate anyone who thinks it's allowed if it's true that they're 'that great.' And finally, I don't mind doing everything myself if that's the only way it will get done. I like having people trust me even if it means I have do everything myself."

"And what does Theo know of all this?"

"My darling Theo knows enough," I snapped.

"I don't like it when you call him that," Draco snapped.

"Why should you care?" I asked. "It's not like you like me."

"You're right. I love Ehnola."

I wanted to scream. Instead I merely said, "Well, you have your Ebola."

"Her name is Ehnola."

"Whatever. You have her. I have darling Theo," I said, moving past him.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me to his chest. I could feel every muscle underneath the silk of his black shirt.

"Stop calling him that," Draco whispered.

He smelled like candy canes. I wanted to lick him but restrained myself. My attraction to him was annoying and I replied like an annoyed little brat.

"Make me," I said and tore my arm from him.

(A/N: Ah, tension. Gotta love it.

To Jene- Glad to see you like it! I had lots of fun with it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

I was flustered of course, but I was even more pissed at Draco then before. I wasn't sure if I wanted to kill him or make out with him.

I stormed to my nearly empty table for dinner and pulled out the notes from my Slytherin friends. I pulled out a scrap parchment. I had nothing for the next couple days. A few of the DA girls wanted to meet up and work a few more spells.

In ten minutes I had a decent schedule that would let me run across Draco at least four times a day.

My bench creaked and I looked over to see that both Theo and Blaise had joined me. Both were grinning.

"What?" I asked.

"Draco has been talking about you non stop all night!"

I frowned. "Why?"

"Mightn't it have something to do with a certain altercation in the hall?"

I blinked. Right, earlier this afternoon. I'd almost forgotten that they didn't know. I quickly related the argument, feeling my ire rise with the remembrance.

"Sounds like he really got to you," Theo said.

"Did he," I growled.

Both boys grinned at me. "So, how will things go now?"

"You mean what will I do? That's easy. I'm going to make him wish he had me and not that little bitch."

"We can help you with that," Blaise offered.

"Well, he's already more than a bit jealous of you, Theo."

I was going to say more but I glanced at my watch. "Oh, gotta go. See you boys tomorrow."

On impulse I gave them each a quick kiss on their cheeks. Draco was watching and as I rose to walk away I caught the furious look in his eyes. So, if he couldn't have me, no one could. What an ass. What a gorgeous ass.

888

Draco caught up to me in the hall outside of the Infirmary. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

"Shut up," I hissed. "I'm not getting caught because you lack subtlety."

He frowned but hunkered down next to me. "What exactly are we doing here?"

"I'm breaking into the infirmary to steal key potion ingredients and unless you shut the hell up, you're going to be the one that gets me caught."

"Why are you stealing ingredients from up here? Doesn't Slughorn have them all?"

I shook my head. "Bella confiscated them."

"Isn't she going to know who took them?"

I shook my head again. "She'll suspect but unless I use magic, she has no way to know for sure."

Draco looked impressed but I had no time for that. I pulled out a pair of bobby pins from my back pocket and began folding them into a straight line. When I had them in the right configuration, I slipped them into the lock of the room and with a single sharp twist, the lock clicked into place. Draco gave a soft whistle.

I glanced at him. "Hush, you."

He held up his hands in supplication. "Sorry."

I quietly pushed the door open, motioning Draco back. What I was doing now was even more dangerous than anything Neville could have planned. Bellatrix Lestrang was much more dangerous than Snape could ever be. And if she caught me at this, no amount of excuses would save me from her level of prying. I had the feeling that even Draco wouldn't be able to talk his way out of trouble where Bella was concerned.

I slipped into the infirmary. Draco followed but he seemed to sense the thin ice we were treading on for he kept entirely quiet.

I tiptoed over to the shelves and began rummaging as quietly as I could. I had no idea where the ingredients I needed were but I knew Bella had them.

That was when Peeves decided to show up.

Normally Peeves leaves me alone. There's an actual reason for this too. When I was a first year, Riddle used me to yell at Peeves. Peeves never figured out the difference between Riddle-me and regular-me. It didn't take me long to figure this out and it's been helpful getting my friends out of trouble and keeping Peeves from bothering Neville. Not that that took much persuasion. Peeves doesn't like Snape any better than I do.

Unfortunately Peeves couldn't tell who I was here in the dark infirmary.

"What's here? Ickle firsties?" he sneered.

"Peeves, shut up!" Draco hissed.

I knew Peeves wasn't going to listen to Draco and I knew if he kept talking that Bella would be here before long.

"Peeves," I snapped. "Shut up."

Peeves' ethereal eyes widened as he recognized my voice. He nodded vigorously, in a manner that would have done Dobby proud.

"Good, now help me find some ingredients."

Peeves helped as I recited the ingredients. He was almost pathetic in his desire to keep me happy.

Finally I nodded and gestured him away. He went in relief.

Draco watched him go. "Holy shit," he began.

That was when the light under the far door went on. I grabbed Draco and pulled him back into a niche, my hand over his mouth. I spotted a wand on the table and on an impulse I grabbed it up, casting an illusion over us.

Then I prayed as the far door opened and Bella strode in, accompanied by Lucius Malfoy. Draco tensed beside me and I kept my hand over his mouth.

"What is it Bella? You know I don't have much time."

"I thought I heard something in here."

"It was probably just Peeves playing tricks on you, Bella. He didn't like you even in school," Lucius drawled, pulling Bella towards him by her waist.

"You have a wife, Lucius," Bella said though she didn't sound too protesting.

"That's true. But she's quite a ways away."

Draco tensed further and I dug my hand into his mouth, wrapping the spare arm around his neck just in case. For a second it looked like Bella and Lucius might go at it right here before us but Bella broke off. "There will be time for that later, Lucius," she finally snapped. "You have to be elsewhere."

I was beginning to hope that they might leave right then but then Bella said, "And while I have you here, check and see if you can find any other magic."

Lucius kissed her sloppily then waved his wand.

"Just Pomphrey," he announced.

For a second I was hoping I had really gotten away with it. Then Lucius paused a few feet from where we stood. "That's odd," he said.

"What?" Bella asked.

"I have a trace here. Feels like a Weasley..."

This time Draco wasn't the only one tensing and I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying out.

"Which one?" Bella asked excitedly. I was certain she wanted it to be me and I had no illusions that she had fun things planned for me.

"One of the twins. Probably just those silly toys they keep passing around."

Bella snorted. "Hard to believe the damage those two have managed to inflict."

Lucius nodded and joined her to leave the room. Draco and I remained in our tableau for a few tense minutes before I finally let him go and grabbed my bag of ingredients. "Let's go," I managed.

Once outside the infirmary we ran silently to the first stair case we could find. Halfway up we both collapsed and sat on the stairs.

"Holy shit," Draco whispered. "I didn't think Peeves was afraid of anyone."

I shrugged. "Just me and the Baron, so far as I know," I conceded.

He shook his head. "You're impressive."

I gave him a smile but my mind was elsewhere. I almost didn't notice he was leaning forward until he was almost touching me.

I looked at him sharply. "What are you doing?"

He blinked. "What are you doing?" he returned, a pale pink tinge coming to his cheeks.

"I'm rejecting your kiss," I snapped angrily.

He looked put out. "Why?" he demanded.

I rose to my feet and looked disdainfully down my nose at him. "Because you're still dating Ehnola. That hasn't changed since this morning."

Then I sprinted up the stairs, leaving him alone.

888

In bed that night, I pulled out the wand I had lifted from the infirmary. I inspected it. Sure enough, on the end were the engraved initials FW.

I lay back in my bed, holding my brother's wand and wondering how it had gotten there.

(A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN! Wow, I'm really glad none of you know how to find me...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

I sighed heavily, knowing exactly what it did to my cleavage in the small tank top I was wearing. I knew both Draco and Theo were watching my chest avidly.

I had to admit that my mind was elsewhere. I had Owled Mum, Percy and George the other day and I hadn't heard back from any of them. I was considering Owling Bill and Charlie but I wanted to wait. I was really hoping that Fred had just lost his wand during a trick but part of me knew that wasn't so.

To keep my boys from making a fuss, I had managed to wear at least one skimpy outfit a day and parade past Draco whenever possible. Theo kept trying to coerce me into quick changes but I steadfastly refused.

I gave another deep sigh then got to my feet. I made a show of fixing the miniskirt I was wearing. I knew Draco was watching me.

I left the Great Hall and started towards Gryffindor common room.

I went into the girl's room and when I came out, Draco was standing there.

Before I could so much as blink, his arms were around me and his perfect lips were on mine.

For all of a second I let it happen, hoping this would be enough to break that damn spell. It felt so damn right that I wanted to cry.

But instead I grabbed his shoulders and threw my knee into his groin.

Draco released me and curled over the wounded area, dropping to his knees.

I stood above him, trembling with rage and pent up desire. Merlin, I had never wanted any one so badly as I wanted that damnable boy. "You stupid fuck," I snarled at him.

He looked up at me and I was going to continue but Snape came around the corner at that moment. He took one look at the situation.

"Miss Weasley, Mr Malfoy, no fighting in the halls. Detention tonight in the dungeon."

Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

888

"I hope you're both happy now," I hissed at my boys as I sat down across from them at the table in the library.

It hadn't taken me long to wonder why Snape had shown up at that moment and even less time to figure out who would profit from me getting into detention with Draco.

Blaise chose the mock innocence this time while Theo just grinned. "Told you it would work," Theo chortled.

Blaise smiled despite himself and handed Theo a galleon.

I glared at them both. "You are both rotten bastards; you know that, don't you?"

"Look," Theo began, leaning over. "We just made a few innocent comments about how...edible you were looking today."

"Edible?" I repeated dryly.

"I believe I said I wished to ravage you," Blaise said.

"I implied that the mere sight of you made me ravenous for your red locks and raven's heart," Theo returned.

"Points for alliteration," I congratulated him. "But I don't exactly seeing being a raven hearted appetizer as a compliment."

Theo chuckled. "No, but Draco then began to loudly declaim that you were not a bitch, as I had implied but rather that you were a very sweet, if sometimes conniving..."

"Sometimes conniving what?" I demanded.

Theo shrugged. "Dunno. He realized about then that the entire hall was listening in and stormed out in a huff. We figured he was going to see you so Blaise made up some story about having found a secret passageway out of Hogwarts down that hall."

I sighed. I was still annoyed with my boys but I probably would have done the same thing.

"All right. You're off the hook this time. But don't expect me to be so lenient next time."

"So..." Blaise drawled. "Detention? What did you have planned?"

I looked at them in surprise. It had never occurred to me to try anything during detention tonight. I had actually been planning to use the time to think about Fred.

"Um..."

"We can help, you know," Theo crooned.

"No."

Theo and Blaise both pouted but did not pursue it.

That was the only hint I was to get of what was to come.

888

Detention with Snape is my least favorite pastime so I was nearly weak with relief when he merely told me to start scrubbing the floor and left.

Draco wasn't there yet, so my assumption was that Snape was off finding Draco, a suspicion that was proven true when, ten minutes later, Snape stormed back in, dragging a protesting Draco by his ear.

I did my best to ignore them as Draco whined and Snape put his foot down.

In five minutes, Draco was on the floor, scrubbing as well.

After a few more minutes Snape told Draco to lock up after us and left.

For a while we worked in silence then Draco shot me a particularly venom filled glare and asked "What is your damage?"

"Are you still limping?" I returned, smiling sweetly.

He winced at that but refused to be sidetracked.

"Did your parents torture you or something? What is wrong with you?"

"My parents didn't torture me. They just raised me not to be the skank that guys dump girls for. Or worse yet, the slut that guys see on the side. That's not who I am and if you think that then I will take my knee to your family jewels again."

He winced again. "Look, Ginny, I don't like Ehnola."

My heart skipped more than a few beats at that.

"So why are you still dating her?" I demanded finally.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His hand was wet with floor water and this caused his hair to stick out randomly which was strangely endearing.

"I don't know. I don't know why I started dating her but I'm having trouble breaking it off."

"Get Crabbe or Goyle to do it," I offered. This wasn't altruism on my part. Crabbe and Goyle lacked the basics of subtlety. And I wanted that bitch to pay.

He laughed at that, a delightful sound. "Yeah, they'd get it done all right. But I don't think they'd survive the encounter."

Given my past experience with Gray and knowing what I knew about her from the dream I doubted either would survive. Draco would because Gray had some twisted plan for him. I made a mental note to ask Neville to dig into her back ground.

I was about to say something witty when I opened the closet door. There, crammed into what little space was there, were Theo and Blaise, both looking like a mix between the cat that caught the canary and a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I opened my mouth, a frown forming but Blaise tapped me with his wand and muttered something.

I backed away, coughing at the mist that now enveloped me. I pulled out my wand, trying, as I became more light headed, to remember the counter charm.

A strong voice bellowed it out from behind me. I could breathe again but I still felt weak and light-headed, a feeling I hated and was trying to stave off. I turned to see who my rescuer was but the move sent my head spinning and all I glimpsed was a flash of pale blonde before the world closed in on me.

(A/N: God I love Blaise and Theo. I had so much fun with them in this chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

I heard the voices as I drifted up to consciousness.

"Well, I can't blame you for not taking her to Lestrang."

"Thanks again for coming, Daphne. You're just the only one I know who could help."

"Any idea how it happened?"

"Not a clue."

I knew. And believe me, Blaise and Theo were going to pay.

I must have made some small move, for Daphne said, "You should leave. I'll take care of her from here."

I heard someone leaving. Then, "You can open your eyes now."

I opened them and looked up at Daphne. We were in the Prefect's study room on the third floor. I was stretched out on one of the couches. Daphne sat down beside me, smiling just slightly.

"I wouldn't do that," she said as I tried to sit up and she was right. My head ached horribly so I lay back down.

"I imagine those two morons are responsible for this," Daphne said.

"What two morons?" I asked, rubbing my forehead. My voice sounded like gravel.

"Blaise and Theo of course," she replied, handing me a glass of water.

I paused with the water at my lips.

She just smiled. "Oh, I know all about their plan to get you and Draco together. They overdid themselves a little this time and I'm going to have to fuss at them, of course. But they didn't really mean any harm. And besides, Draco did save you."

I looked away from her.

He had saved me. So what if it was a fake evil brought on by my friends in an attempt to further our relationship. He had saved me.

"Wait a second," I said. "why are you here? Didn't you go home?"

She smiled down at me. "Well, Draco sort of panicked when you fainted. Fortunately he was too preoccupied to notice Blaise and Theo slip out of the dungeons or they would not still be alive. In any case, he didn't know what had hit you and he was pretty sure it wasn't a good thing what did. He was right, sort of. Any way, he called me because he didn't think you'd fancy being taken to Lestrang. I was the only one he knew that had any medi training. Aside from you, that is."

I relaxed back and smiled at her. "Sorry to pull you away from home."

She shrugged. "I was trying to avoid going home this break any way. Astoria, my sister, knows that I've been getting lessons from you. She keeps threatening to tell our parents. I personally don't think they would care, but it's hard to tell."

I nodded. I knew how that felt. Boy, did I ever.

"So what exactly did Blaise do to me?" I asked.

"Oh, just a fainting cloud. You took in quite a lot of it but you'll be fine."

I nodded but I was going to have words with the boys.

I drank the rest of my water, my head feeling better already. I looked over at Daphne and made a decision.

"Daphne, can I ask for your help on something?"

"Sure, Ginny. Go right ahead."

"You have to promise to keep this between the two of us, okay?"

She looked mildly concerned but she agreed. "Any thing, Ginny."

I took a deep breath.

"I want to know why Bellatrix Lestrang had my brother's wand."

888

It took a few seconds for that to sink in.

Then her eyes widened. "What?"

"I went up to the Infirmary the other day to get some ingredients. When I got there, my brother Fred's wand was there. I've tried asking my family about it but I don't want to raise suspicion."

She bit her thumb and looked at me seriously. "There are several reasons I can think of and none of them are good. Are you sure you want to start this, Ginny?"

"He's my brother, Daph. I don't have a choice. I never had one. If there's anything, even just the smallest little thing that I can do to help him, I have to. Do you understand?"

She sighed. "I do. I may dislike Ast strongly but she's my sister. I would do that for her."

She leaned close.

"Look, this isn't going to be easy though. You have to know that. There's only so much I can do on my own. But here's what I'll do…"

She gave me a quick rundown of what she would do until we came back from break. I nodded in approval.

Finally she looked at the clock and sighed.

"I should get back. Mum and Dad will be worried about me. I'll owl you sometime soon. Take care, Ginny."

I said I would and watched her Floo out of the castle. It didn't occur to me until later to wonder how that was possible. You can't Floo in or out of the building unless a channel is opened. As far as I knew the only person who had that sort of power was Snape. So why would he let students Floo in and out?

The doubts circled in my mind and I found sleep reaching up for me. I let it come.

(A/N: Behold! The plot thickens!

To Roni2010- I had so much fun with that scene it should be illegal!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

I was fully recovered by the next morning and ready for blood.

I had an Owl waiting for me the next morning when I went down to breakfast. It was from Daphne. The note was short, just saying she had gotten home all right and that she would be starting her plans soon.

Blaise and Theo were not present.

I figured they would play hide and seek for at least the next day.

I looked up in surprise as a shadow darkened my breakfast. It was Draco. He stood uneasily at my side for a moment. "You okay?" he finally asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for that last night."

He smiled shyly at me. "Yeah…you're welcome."

"Oh, and if you see Blaise or Theo, please let them know that I'm looking for them."

His smile widened. "Somehow I think I shouldn't tell you until I let them get their affairs in order. What did they do to you this time?"

"Oh…just got me a detention."

"Another one?"

"Nope."

He looked confused for a second then his brow cleared. "Oh. I get it."

I chuckled as he walked away. I returned my attention to my breakfast but before I could eat too much, Neville joined me.

I tsked in annoyance as I saw the new wound on his cheek. "When did you get that?" I asked angrily.

"I heard about what happened to you last night. I didn't know you weren't taken to the Hospital wing."

Ice trickled through my veins. "You didn't go to Lestrang, did you?"

He looked away and I moaned. "Neville, please. For you and me. Stay away from her. You're no use to me if she kills you. I don't want to lose you, You're one of my best friends."

He smiled back at me and leaned over to hug me.

"You're awesome, Ginny."

"Yeah, right. Come one. Let's fix you up."

I rose to my feet, pulling him along with me. I glanced over at the Slytherin table. Draco sat there, his glare less pronounced but still there. I wanted to be resentful but I couldn't. He had saved me and for today at least, I was going to let it ride.

So instead of glaring at him. I just nodded politely.

888

Break was almost over before I saw my boys again. I did my best to avoid Draco which actually went rather well. Daphne wasn't able to find much while she was gone.

"Blaise," I snarled.

The boys looked up at me in horror. I had finally cornered them in the library. They looked like deer in the headlights and I allowed myself a moment of sick satisfaction. I let a smirk slip across my face.

"Uh…We uh…Need to…uh…"

"Sit down," I snarled as they started to rise.

"We love you?" Theo tried.

"Good to know. Now tell me what the fuck you were doing?"

Blaise sighed. "Draco needed that."

"He needed me in dire straits?"

"I hardly think that your situation was dire," Theo commented.

"Point taken. I still want to know why he needed to rescue me."

"Because that was the final step. He needed to rescue you so he would realize how he felt about you. Do you really think he doesn't know a fainting cloud when he sees one? He knew exactly what that spell would do to you which was nothing more than a minor concussion when you fainted. Yet he went all out. Hell, he even called Daphne in. What does that tell you?" Blaise asked.

"It tells me that he just might be over that bitch, what's her name?" Theo drawled happily.

I looked down at them and my anger faded. I couldn't be angry with them. Not with what this meant.

"Bloody hell," I muttered.

Blaise was on his feet in an instant, arms around me. "That's what I say, princess."

I looked at him then at Theo. "Thanks," I muttered into his chest.

In all the shit that was to follow, I held to that one moment. That moment when I realized who my friends were. Because that friendship was going to be tried and of all the things broken that year, remembering that moment, I never let myself believe that we would be broken.

Just shows you how much I know.

(A/N: Yeah! Gotta love Theo and Blaise.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

School was back in session which meant a return of Ehnola.

You can bet I was thrilled about this.

Still, there seemed to be a gap between Draco and Ehnola. I noticed he did not let her touch him as much and now that I knew what to look for, I saw the signs. At meal times, she always found some excuse to touch his food.

My boys seemed to have some idea what was going on for, after Ehnola touched Draco's things, one of them would snatch it away, replacing it instantly.

Draco didn't notice and the whole thing might have been funny, especially the first time, when Theo drank Draco's drugged pumpkin juice.

Okay, let's be honest, that was pretty hilarious and since I was still pissed at the boys a little bit, It was kinda fun to watch Theo compose bad poetry to Ehnola and attempt to serenade her.

After a few hours I administered the antidote and Blaise and I took great glee in showing him the moving photos we'd took and developed. Theo was not so amused. Still, the boy had a good singing voice.

Ehnola was not stupid.

She was crazy but not stupid. All of which meant she guessed that I was the one orchestrating all this. I mean, she already knew that Draco liked me. Now, with her love potions failing, she didn't have to go far to find a scapegoat.

I was working on a bone healing potion down in one of the potions rooms when Ehnola stormed in, looking fit to kill.

"Hi, Gray," I said cheerily. I was not surprised when Theo slipped in behind her on near silent feet.

"You need to stay away from Malfoy," Gray said.

"Well that's a fine how-do-you-do. It's getting so anyone thinks they can just tell me what to do," I drawled.

"I'm warning you. You're no match for me, Weasley. And frankly, I doubt the world would miss it if I took down a Weasley."

"No match for you?" I repeated. "Don't make me laugh, Gray. At least I don't need a love potion to get guys infatuated with me."

Her face went deathly pale. "How did you know about that?"

"Ask Bellatrix. She knows a thing or two about me and I her."

"I'll tear your family apart, Weasley, starting with you," she snarled.

She reached for me but I sunk my fingers into her flaxen hair and yanked. She yelped in surprise then her forehead met the table. I brought her head down again and released her. She staggered back, nose bleeding everywhere.

"You'll have to try better than that, you stupid bitch," I said, controlling my anger with effort. "I own this school. One word from me and all the houses will unite to make the Marquis de Sade proud of your execution."

She sneered at me. "But if you kill me, who's to show you what happened to darling Fred?"

For a moment all I could do was stare. Then I was over the table and on her like white on rice. I pinned her, one arm across her throat and my wand tip in her eye.

"Tell me!" I hissed.

She laughed, an evil, calculating sound. "You really think he's somewhere you can save him?"

"NO!" I screamed and pulled back. Curses flooded my mind and Crucio was on the tip of my tongue when Theo grabbed me by the waist, pulling me off her.

"Let me go!" I screeched. I conjured birds to do Hermione proud. Hers had been yellow but mine were deep crimson and the size of crows. They launched themselves at Gray, wrapping themselves in her hair and attacking.

"Ginny, stop it!" Theo gasped.

"NO! Not until she suffers!" I yelled.

"Ginny!" he cried again as the birds chased her from the room. I watched her go and collapsed in his arms.

"What the hell was that about?" he demanded, spinning me to face him. I clung to him like a wet shirt.

"Ginny! What was that about?"

"Fred," I gasped. "I think my brother's dead."

He stared down at me then wrapped me in his arms. The rest of the day was disjointed, coming in pieces. Theo took me to the Gryffindor Prefects' room, kicking out the other girls. Blaise came after a while. There was a hushed conversation.

All I truly remember was that night, lying in bed with Blaise on one side and Theo on the other. I awoke at one moment to find them both gone and someone else in their place. Draco lay in bed with me, his face buried in my hair, whispering the same two words over and over.

"I'm sorry."

(A/N: AHHHH! What happens next? Well I know. The good news? Only one chapter to the epilogue. Then the sequel! :3 I'll probably post the epilogue and the first chapter of the sequel at the same time because the epilogue is really short and I'm not _that_ mean.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

There really is not that much more to tell.

After that, it was open season on Ehnola. Blaise and Theo kept her away from me and at least once aday I saw her heading towards the infirmary, covered in boils or sores or any other of a dozen injuries.

I'm sure Draco was responsible for most of her injuries and Neville and the Creeveys were responsible for the rest.

The weeks bled by and I threw myself into my work at the DA and as amateur mediwitch. Draco was by my side constantly and I'm sure it had a lot to do with Ehnola. Neville and Seamus took over most of my work. Daphne and I still met for private sessions but Draco was always around.

"Ginny?"

I looked up from my medical studies and blinked at the look on Neville's face.

"Hey, Nev. What's up?"

"Harry's down in the Room," he said softly.

I stared at him blankly. Who the fuck was Harry? Then it all came back to me. God it had been, what? Three, four, ten months since I last thought about him?

I felt Draco's hand on my shoulder. "Go on, Gin."

I looked at him and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you," I said softly.

He nodded and I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away and down to the Room. Neville updated me on everything as we went. Harry, Ron and Hermione were back, in search of a way to finally destroy the final Horocruxes. Ron, dear Merlin, I'd forgotten how much danger he and the others were in.

I walked into the Room of Requirement and for the first time in months, I wasn't the center of attention. It was almost a relief.

Then I saw him. Every emotion imaginable entered me at that moment. Anger, amusement, resentment, and good old fashioned 'woman scorned'.

"Ginny," he said.

"Harry," I replied.

"Nice to see you too," Ron drawled.

I turned and launched myself at him, laughing and crying. I had heard at Christmas that he was okay but it was different to see that for myself. He caught me and I could have sworn that he had gotten taller. I buried my face in his chest then turned and threw myself at Hermione who was also crying.

I got a hold of myself and turned to Harry, putting my arms around him. It felt awkward.

"We should talk later," he said softly.

"You know how to get a girl excited," I said.

He chuckled.

"So what's the plan, Harry?" Neville asked.

I released him and listened as he went on about the final Horocruxes and how he needed to find the diadem.

"I know where it is."

We all turned to look at Draco, who was leaning against the back wall. I caught his eye and I knew what this was. He was showing me that he'd do whatever it took to keep me safe. Even if that meant helping Harry, his least favorite person in the world.

I felt a thrill of pride and looked at him fondly.

Ron started to object but Harry shook his head. "We do it your way, Malfoy," Harry said.

Draco smirked. "Let's go, Potter. Weasley, Granger? You coming?"

They nodded and started towards him. I caught up with them and snagged Draco's arm before he could leave. "You don't have to..."

"I know," he breathed.

He glanced at Ron, whose back was to us, then kissed me again, hard and quick this time.

I watched them go, a bad feeling in my stomach.

The hours dragged by. I helped the others ready for the coming storm. It came.

It happened fast and yet slow. Neville and Blaise and Theo stuck to me like glue. If there was a time for Ehnola to try and get rid of me, this was it. I would be just another casualty.

But she didn't. Dawn finally came and we gathered in the courtyard, waiting. The Death Eaters came, Harry held in Hagrid's arms.

I knew he wasn't dead. Though Draco was my life now, Harry was still my first and I would know if he'd just died. Wouldn't I?

"Neville?" I began.

"Go inside, Ginny," Neville said. "Blaise, Theo. Take her to the back gardens. Draco will meet you there. Keep her safe."

"Neville, I'm not-!"

Neville shook his head. "It's not abandoning me. I'll be fine," he said, holding up what looked like the Sorting Hat.

Pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. "Be safe," I whispered to him and kissed his cheek.

"Always," he said.

I turned and went with Theo and Blaise.

I don't know what we were expecting when we got to the back gardens, but it wasn't what we found. Draco was lying on the ground, white as snow and dead still.

"Ginny!" Blaise began but I ignored it, rushing over to Draco.

"Draco?! Draco?"

He lay there, cold. I leaned down and kissed his lips with bruising force. "Be okay," I whispered and felt him stir beneath me.

I pulled back then turned as Blaise cried out. I looked in time to see him crumple, surrounded by magic. Theo moved forward but more magic grabbed him in a red halo and he was flung across the yard.

"Theo!" I cried. He wasn't moving. I pulled out my wand and faced the stupid bitch.

Ehnola smirked at me. "You are a troublesome bitch. I would love nothing more than to tear you apart!"

"Procto!" I cried and a black barrier rose between the two of us. I knew she could tear it down in a few moments but I needed those moments. I ran over to Draco who was looking more alive but still not awake.

"Wingardium Leviosa," I said and began running, Draco's body following me.

The next spell hit me in the back and I fell to the ground, screaming.

"Time to die," Ehnola hissed, turning me over with her foot.

"You first."

Ehnola turned and Draco punched her in the face. "Petrifus Totalus," he sneered.

My back was killing me and I couldn't move. Draco fell to his knees beside me. "I can fix this, Ginny. Just tell me which spell?"

"I can't," I gasped. "I don't know one..."

His face froze. "Daphne?"

I managed a little nod. "Go get her."

"Stay here, baby. I'll be right back," he breathed.

"Wasn't planning on leaving," I joked and he managed a weak little laugh. He set me gently on the ground and I lay there, staring up at the sky. At first I thought I must have lost track of time, for the sky was growing dark. Then I realized that it was the world growing dark. I was dying.

(A/N: And Nikki gets killed for writing an awful cliffie. Yup. That's about how it goes.


End file.
